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25.05.2021 Feature Article

I Think This Is Why Some In FDC Are Dialoguing With M7

I Think This Is Why Some In FDC Are Dialoguing With M7
25.05.2021 LISTEN

It may not be my assigned "job" to tell supporters of NUP the truth, but I still think they need to be told. I don't dislike their ‘mole- politics’ because it has literally destroyed the opposition, such that I’m not surprised that some elements in FDC are kind of having dialogue with Mr. Museveni. Perhaps, we ought to understand the genesis of all this. It's not the kind of thing that can be observed in a day, or even a lifetime.

What particularly got the ball rolling was what has happened to FDC in the last 4- 5 years, where the party has been getting a beating from both NRM and Bobi’s supporters – later NUP party. Most of these guys in FDC have been left so confused, exposed and vulnerable. They don’t believe that the people they have been fighting for all those years, have suddenly turned against them. And this is where Museveni, understandably, came in to exploit them. So, personally, I understand why some of them have taken that path., though DIALOGUE itself is not necessarily bad.

Museveni’s statement yesterday that he is dialoguing with FDC, UPC, DP, but not NUP, was meant to add confusion to an already a confused group, and this is where the leadership of Dr. Kiiza Besigye and others at Najjanakumbi, should come in. Opposition leaders at all levels need guidance and some good lessons on dialoguing with Museveni.

In any case, Museveni should not be taken seriously when he says that he isn’t yet dialoguing with NUP, yet Bobi Wine was already calling on his supporters to vote for some NRM candidates during and after the 2021 election campaigns, isn’t that dialogue? Museveni, too, recently, posted pictures of his meeting with over some NUP coordinators, and they all appeared so comfortable around him, like they had known him for ages.

I think a lot of NUPs are suffering from Ostracism: Social version of putting your head in the sand. They don’t want to accept that there’s some obvious kind of understanding between Bobi’s group and the state. What boggles my mind is that they celebrate every angle that makes FDC look bad in the eyes of Ugandans. They absolutely negate every single suggestion that any person gives them for any reason whatsoever, no matter how well intentioned the person is who gives it.

A lot of FDC leaders have been ignoring Bobi’s peculiarities for years; just recently it's escalated when he suggested that a meeting with them during the days of their retreat, it's seemed to me, and perhaps a different approach is what's required. FDC has started putting Bobi in his place, and that exactly explains the response from Hon. Salaam Musumba when she said that they won’t be able to meet him.

The mistaken assumption is that there is always a specific goal or choice of goals in mind when someone says something negative about the NUP leader. Sometimes it is just a case of like "hey, wait a minute! you just said this, yet you are doing that. so, what the heck does that mean?" Which is pretty much the case in, as far as, NUP and FDC are concerned at the moment.

After the elections, Bobi was reportedly asked to support FDC’s plan B , but he declined, and said that he was only going to concentrate on rebuilding their 25-year old party. Yet, a few days later, he was heard calling on people to demonstrate against election rigging, which, I can imagine, became so confusing to FDC leaders.

OK, let’s hear from NUPs now. Please be mindful that your insults don't convince, only detract from any logical dialogue.

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

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